Brakes in general, and disc brakes in particular, are capable of slowing down and/or stopping the vehicle transforming the kinetic energy thereof into thermal energy by a friction action between disc and pads. For this reason, to keep the efficiency of the brakes themselves, it is important not to make the disc and the pads become overheated. It is therefore important to obtain an efficient dissipation of the heat in the environment.
To this end, brake discs are known, comprising a pair of sided flanges which in turn comprise outside friction surfaces and inside ventilation channels.
The flanges are normally coupled to each other by connecting elements, which may be pins or tongues. Preferably, the connecting elements are shaped so as to form inside ventilation channels for cooling the brake disc.
The disc comprises a support bell for said braking band, the support bell being intended for being connected to the wheel hub of the vehicle, and being connected to the braking band by driving elements.
Even though such known discs are widely appreciated, they are not free from defects.
In fact, it has been noted that the disc ventilation obtained with the known discs is not optimised and that the consequent heat dissipation is not fully efficient. The poor dissipation efficiency is essentially due to the interference of the driving elements with said ventilation channels that do not allow optimum air flow.
In fact, said driving elements of the prior art have a tangential thickness in the pin or tongue portion on the side of the flange inside diameter that interferes with the ventilation channels; in other words the tongue or pin blocks at least partly the inlet to the ventilation channel, thus limiting the air flow rate. Such thickness is imposed by mechanical resistance requirements.